Blowing out the lines unproductive!

[sourdough]

I'm not sure where you are hearing water at. One thing I didn't see mentioned is after draining the FW tank you need to turn on the pump and run it for 30 seconds or so with a faucet open to get out any water between the FW tank and the pump.

I open each faucet for hot then cold while under pressure and the low point drain open. There's still enough pressure to push out everything. I open the pressure valve on the hot water heater and drain it and put the bypass valve in bypass. If you still hear water "bubbling" in the hot water tank it would seem like the bypass valve is malfunctioning or in the wrong position. When closing down I put the caps on the hold and cold low point drains and open each faucet to make sure any water that might be in the line can expand if frozen and not pop something loose.

[Tbos]

Thanks everyone. I think I got it all finally.

[theeyres]

I know I'm a little late to thread but just have to say I still don't understand all the stuff about blowing out the lines. Empty the hot water tank, open all the low point drains, then pump antifreeze into all the lines. When red comes out everywhere you are protected. Why bother with the blowing out of lines? I've been doing it the old way for 40 years and never had a problem and it takes 20 minutes. That's where it gets down to 0. Just seems like everybody is adding an extra unnecessary step.

[Tbos]

Next year I may do it the old fashion way. I have to find the firings or install a cut over to use my pump to siphon from a bottle. Tested how much to try and pump from the FW tank and it took about 12 gallons before the pump got all the air out of the lines. Didn't want to put that much AF in the tank. Thanks.

[Festus2]

Earl -
Some folks don't like the idea of having RV antifreeze sitting in their water lines over the winter and would rather blow the lines out and avoid having to use RV antifreeze.

You can safeguard your lines and water system in one of two ways: use RV antifreeze OR blow them out. Some members do both as an extra precaution.

I'm not sure whether or not one method is better or more time consuming than the other -- it's just a different way of accomplishing the same thing.

[Festus2]

Tbos -

If you are using RV antifreeze to protect your water lines, there is no need to put any in the FW tank. Use your pump, remove the hose at the pump going into the FW tank, and place it into a container of RV antifreeze and let the pump suck the pink stuff out of the container.
I've never dumped any pink stuff into the FW tank and use about 2 containers to do everything - including dumping some into the P-traps, into the toilet, and hand pumped into the city and black water connections.

[JRTJH]

Earl,

The method you use is a very good procedure for moderate temperature areas and is likely to be OK in areas where there is sustained sub-zero weather. There is a potential, however, that if the lines are not blown out to remove as much water as possible, any antifreeze pumped into the hot and cold lines could be diluted with the remaining water and not offer sufficient protection during the extremely cold weather. If the majority of the water is blown out, there is less chance that the antifreeze will be diluted and there will be less antifreeze needed to be run through the pump until the "dark pink" color is seen at the taps.

When in Louisiana, on the rare occasions when I did use antifreeze, just a 50/50 mix (or maybe even less) was all the antifreeze needed. However, up here, if I tried to winterize that way, I'd have significant plumbing problems in the spring.

Blowing out as much water as possible, then following that with antifreeze helps assure a more concentrated solution of antifreeze to protect the plumbing. I think (just my opinion) that if the lines aren't first blown, the amount of antifreeze that gets to low spots and just how much water remains in the lines is questionable. That could lead to less than adequate protection.

I've learned, the hard way, that removing as much water as possible before any antifreeze is added is the most reliable way to assure the antifreeze remains in the strongest possible solution.

[trueweb]

I just finished mine yesterday. Hope I got all the water out. I too experienced the "bubbling" sound in the water heater. I finally just pulled the anode rod and wow, there was still a lot of water left in there.

After that I went around opening and closing valves randomly and I would occasionally year some noise in the lines. I kept removing and replacing the plug on the low point drain. Each time I did this water would come out. I just kept this process up until I only heard air coming out the low point drain and only air came out any of the faucets.

It did take a little longer than I would have expected, but I think it's done!

Poured anti-freeze in all the traps and the toilet. I hope that does the trick.

[Javi]

Originally Posted by trueweb

I just finished mine yesterday. Hope I got all the water out. I too experienced the "bubbling" sound in the water heater. I finally just pulled the anode rod and wow, there was still a lot of water left in there.

After that I went around opening and closing valves randomly and I would occasionally year some noise in the lines. I kept removing and replacing the plug on the low point drain. Each time I did this water would come out. I just kept this process up until I only heard air coming out the low point drain and only air came out any of the faucets.

It did take a little longer than I would have expected, but I think it's done!

Poured anti-freeze in all the traps and the toilet. I hope that does the trick.

I drain the WH and the LP drains and open ALL the faucets including the washer connections and outside shower and then leave them for several hours before coming back to blow out the lines whenever possible.